<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Taylir Ni by DauntingSagas</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448735">Taylir Ni</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DauntingSagas/pseuds/DauntingSagas'>DauntingSagas</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aliit ori'shya tal'din [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, No actual details of the fight, because spoilers, kind of</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:29:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448735</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DauntingSagas/pseuds/DauntingSagas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Din and Aili have an argument on some planet neither remember the name of, chasing down a lead that is an obvious dead end. Din says something he immediately regrets but he knows to let Aili have some space before he goes to apologize. This is the aftermath of their fight.</p><p>Takes place some time after Cabur but before the upcoming sequel (with some hints to what's to come if you squint)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aliit ori'shya tal'din [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065905</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Taylir Ni</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I don't know what happened, this was supposed to be a cute one shot with just a little bit of angst but somehow it turned into an angst sandwich with a fluffy middle. Semi-inspired by a song from a musical because I am that person.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Aili sat down on the balcony of the room they had rented on some random planet, chasing down yet another lead that was looking more and more like a dead end. The room had become stifling with the silence between her and Din inside with a sleeping Little Green. The suns hadn’t even started to come up on the planet yet but Aili didn’t care as her feet dangled down above the quiet city below her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was better for everyone if she and Din weren’t in the same room at the moment even if they were both exhausted from a lack of sleep. Of course it was that same exhaustion that had led to their argument soon after Aili had managed to finally put Little Green down for the night. Things had been said and now here she was sitting outside in the cool night air. The door to the room slid open with a quiet whisper followed by quiet footsteps. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ni ceta, cyar’ika</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Din’s voice was soft as he came outside and kneeled down beside Aili. He let out a quiet sigh when she didn’t bother to even look at him as he spoke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I only know insults, Din,” Aili sighed out, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to keep the exhaustion from her voice. She failed and she knew that but thankfully Din knew better than to comment on it since he was just as tired as her. It seemed these days the only one who was still getting decent sleep was Little Green. But even he was getting fussier with every passing day as if he knew how on edge they were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It means I’m sorry for what I said,” Din replied, still speaking in a gentle voice. He knew he had fucked up saying what he had said to her and he knew he’d have to make it up to her somehow, he just didn’t know how yet. “I didn’t mean it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know you didn’t but that doesn’t make it better.” Aili ran a hand down her face, equal parts to rub away the sleep from her eyes along with a few of the stray tears threatening to gather again. She was determined not to start crying in front of him because then he’d just pull her into a hug and she wouldn’t be able to stay upset with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Din didn’t know what to say to fix this but he knew he needed to rather than letting it fester and grow into something worse. “Do you, do you want me to teach you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Aili questioned, finally looking over at Din with a furrowed brow. She didn’t have a clue what Din was offering to teach her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said you only know insults,” Din clarified. “I can teach you some Mando’a that’s not insults.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aili stared at Din silently for a moment, glancing over at the dark sky knowing that Little Green would be asleep for hours more before she turned back and slowly nodded her head. Din spent the next hour teaching Aili a few words, keeping to words that would make it easier to communicate in the middle of any scuffles they got into plus a few more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You ready?” Din asked once he was sure that Aili had gotten the hang of the words he had been teaching her. Aili went over the words and the pronunciations as best as she could in her head before she nodded in Din’s direction again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nakil</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Corner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nau’ul</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Signal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Parer</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” Din questioned with a slight tilt of his helmet. She was right, of course, but he wanted to see how sure she was with her answer. Mando’a wasn’t exactly the easiest language to pick up on, he remembered how long it had taken him to memorize even half the words he had just taught Aili. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m sure.” Aili gave him a look, almost back to her normal level of fake annoyance with him. The look she gave him when he said something dumber than normal because she knew he wasn’t stupid but sometimes when he opened his mouth...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Three outta three.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s keep going,” Aili said, pulling her legs away from the edge of the balcony in order to turn around to face Din fully. Their knees were brushing against each other now, the closest they had been since their hushed fight inside. Even angry with each other they had known better than to be loud enough to wake Little Green up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nadala</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Kyr’yc cah</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Last night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Aaray</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s right,” Din praised, impressed with how quickly Aili had memorized what each word meant. He’d have to test her pronunciation but that could come later when they had both gotten more rest. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ner gai</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My name.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Kebiin</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The suns were beginning to rise, bathing the two of them in soft golden sunlight and the pink and purple-tinged clouds in the sky were almost magical. The colors bounced off Din’s armor that he hadn’t taken off, their earlier argument distracting him from doing so and then he had come out to apologize. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you say “morning?”” Aili asked, closing her eyes and tilting her head up to feel the slight warmth coming from the suns. She didn’t even know how long they had been sitting outside at that point but the warmth was a welcome change from the chill that had settled over them. Under the light of a new day, she felt her earlier anger melt away and give way to the tiredness that she had been feeling down to her bones for the past couple of weeks now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Vaar’tur</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Din answered, more than a little mesmerized at the sight before him. They were never really planet-side often enough for him to be able to see Aili in this kind of lighting. The sunlight making her normally dark brown hair take on golden brown almost reddish hues throughout her curls. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you say “Help me?”” Aili asked, opening her eyes to look at Din straight on. Like always she managed to meet his eyes even through his t-visor, the sun hitting her head on and allowing Din to see that her eyes were actually a deep brown rather than the almost black they usually appeared to be when they were on the Crest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course he also took notice of the dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep she had been getting recently. Nightmares waking her up more often than not and Din had woken more than once to find her in the cockpit, poring over a star map with their last holo call playing again and again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gaa’taylir ni</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” And he tried to help her as much as he could when she would let him. But their mission was stretching them both too thin at the seams to keep up with their lack of leads. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And how do you say “Hold me?”” They both shifted at the same time, Din leaning back against the other side of the balcony so Aili could sit across his lap. She didn’t even mind the armor still covering his thighs, used to it by now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Taylir’ni</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aili let out a quiet huff of laughter when she heard how similar the two phrases were. Mando’a was an odd language sometimes. “And how do you say “Kiss me?””</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Murcyur ni</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Din translated as he brought his helmet down to rest against Aili’s forehead, a hand coming up to cup the back of her head as well. It was the closest that they could get to a kiss at the moment. With the sun on them and the risk of the other people coming out onto their own balconies. He pulled away slowly, covering Aili’s hands with his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you say,” Aili paused for a long moment, suddenly unsure if she wanted to ask her next question and she brought her gaze down to where their hands were connected on her lap. Din waited for her to speak, wondering what would give her pause now. She took in a deep breath, turning her hands over to lace their fingers together before she finally spoke again, “How do you say “I love you?””</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Din was pretty sure he forgot how to breathe for a moment wondering if Aili was trying to say what he thought she was trying to say. Or if she was just asking for the translation just to know what it was. He gave her the translation after his own moment of hesitation. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps I do,” Aili replied, looking back up at Din with a hesitant look in her eyes. Neither of them had said those words to each other out loud. She felt her bottom lip start to shake and she couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. “Promise me you’ll stay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ratiin</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Always,” Din said as he gathered her up in his arms, his chin resting on top of Aili’s head despite the helmet almost getting in the way. He cursed himself for multiple reasons, for not thinking to remove his armor to make her more comfortable and also for not realizing just how stretched thin Aili was getting with each passing day. As difficult as the last few weeks had been for him, they had been worse for her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll be okay, I promise,” Din whispered, having to clear his throat right after to keep his own emotions at bay. If he needed to be the stronger one at the moment, he would be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aili needed to take several deep breaths before she was able to speak again. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This one I can keep, for you and for them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They stayed like that as the suns continued to rise above them, until Aili drifted off into a deep sleep for the first time in weeks. Din waited until he was sure she was deep asleep before he stood up and took her inside to lay her down on the bed that hadn’t been used at all the previous night. Little Green was peeking over the edge of his pram, softly cooing up at Din with his own big brown eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’ll be okay, kid. We’ll all be okay,” Din said as he picked Little Green up. “Let’s go get something to eat while your mom sleeps, okay?”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Mando'a translations (there's a lot but most are translated within the story)</p><p>Ni ceta-(I kneel) groveling apology<br/>Cyar’ika-sweetheart</p><p>Corner-nakil<br/>Signal-nau’ul<br/>Wait-parer<br/>Hot-nadala<br/>Last night-kyr’yc cah<br/>Pain-aaray<br/>My name-ner gai<br/>Blue-kebiin<br/>Morning-vaar’tur<br/>Help me-gaa’taylir ni<br/>Hold me-taylir ni<br/>Kiss me-murcyur ni<br/>I love you-Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>